Tuburan 360 crowned men’s open champion in ANS 3x3 cage wars

CEBU, Philippines — The homegrown talents of Tuburan held their ground against a tough field of foreign players.

And they did it with a flourish.

Putting up a surprisingly great performance, the Tuburan 360 outgunned the American ballers from Chicago, 13-10, to capture the men’s open crown of the Allied Network Solutions (ANS) 3x3 Basketball Tournament Season 2 on Sunday, September 8, at the Sisters of Mary School-Boystown in Barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla.

Bannered by Miguelito Jusay, Mike Parilla, John Loufred Diamante and Christian Cuevas, the Tuburan 360 under the guidance of coach John Andrew Molon was the only all-Filipino team in the premiere division, yet they did not disappoint against the visiting squads from Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Missouri in the United States.

“Mga players na gyud ni sila namo sa Under 25. Ga-start mi sa Governors Cup niadtong 2018 hangtud nga na-develop namo sila. Karon, sila nay among paduwaon kon naay mga liga-liga in the other towns but first time ni nila niapil sa 3x3 and naka-champion pa gyud. Nindot kayo ang feeling,” said Tuburan 360 team owner and manager Christian Daniel Diamante, a licensed civil engineer and  son of Tuburan Mayor Aljun Diamante.

Interestingly, the Tuburan cagers opened their bid with a 13-12 cliffanger against Missouri. They again went through some scary moments before fending off Chicago, 19-17, and New York, 11-9, on opening day.

Tuburan suffered a 5-8 loss to New Jersey during the second day of action but readily bounced back with a 13-5 rout of Texas to come out as No.1 seed at the end of group stage battle.

In the final match, Xanthanus Pierro vaulted Chicago to a hot 5-1 start but Tuburan, behind the hot hands of Parilla, slowly chiseled the deficit away until they knotted the count at 7-all with a minute and 10 seconds left in the contest.

Tuburan eventually seized the upper hand and then never looked back to walk away with a rousing three-point victory.

“Nindot kaayo kay ang atong mga kontra mga foreigners unya kita ray locals sa men’s open. Tuo gyud nako maglisod mi kay siyempre mga foreign players sila, lahi ilang training outside. Lahi ilang playing style, lahi sad atong playing style dire sa Pilipinas,” added Diamante. “Sa pagdula unya nakadaog among team, nakita nato nga achievement siya. And nga kaya gyud pud diay nato nga mo-compete sa mga foreign teams.”

Meanwhile, Abellana National School-Team A dethroned SOM represented by Team XXIV via a close 12-10 decision to clinch the 18 Under title.

Under the guidance of coach Ritche Bulawan, ANS-A is powered by Eyrald Sacabin, Khayden Kasayan, Johnwenmund Sonsona and Jameson Cadavas.

In the Under 16 age group, the Professional Youth Fellowship Basketball Advocacy (PYFBA) Team A composed of Christian Migallos, Xerex Saberon, and Jersey Nino Llacuna reigned supreme after trouncing Minglanilla’s RJN, 18-12.

RJN though still has something to be happy about after it routed OCCCI I-Share of Ormoc City, 16-4, to win the championship in the Under 14 category through the efforts of Carl Andrew Book, Klarence Obeso, John Cedric Sasil and Bernard Anton Alsola. — (FREEMAN)